Highlights from the 4/13/17 HOA board meeting

The official minutes from the HOA board meeting on 4/13/17 should be available HERE in the next couple weeks or so. In advance of the official minutes, below are a few highlights from the meeting, attended by four current board members; with Kelly DeLaat-Maher out for personal reasons. Property Manager Matt Brown and Building Manager Karen DeGraw were on hand. Approximately 22 additional Esplanade residents were also present.

Guest presenter:

• Ryan Stewart of the Partners Group presented information on The Esplanade’s insurance policy, including damage coverage, liability, earthquake, etc. Mr. Stewart explained how the HOA's insurance on the building works in conjunction with homeowners' insurance policies on their individual units. He explained that individual condo owners generally do not need any more than $25,000 in damage coverage on their units, as any amount of damage over that is covered by the building's policy. He also recommended that condo owners have $500,000 of liability coverage, and "loss of use" coverage that would provide for owners to live elsewhere for 6 months if their unit is damaged. Personal property coverage would depend on the value of the belongings in the unit.
• Mr. Stewart recommended a small language change to the building's CC&Rs in order to more specifically state the responsibility of the HOA's insurance policy.

Treasurer's report:

• Board Treasurer Pat O’Donnell provided the balances in both the operating fund and the reserve fund. She also noted some of this month's bills and payments that were made.

Committee reports:

• Finance Committee:
  Committee Chair Tim O’Donnell had no new items to report to the board at this time.

• Safety Committee: 
  Committee Chair Pat Pound explained that his committee is working with Building Manager Karen DeGraw on the logistics of the "confidence test" scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on June 5. At that time, a building-wide test will be done to make certain that emergency systems all come online when power to the building is cut. All power in the building will be disabled for a short time while the systems are tested. Volunteers are needed to check the emergency lighting on each floor - if you are able to help, please see Pat or Karen.

• Social Committee:
  Committee chair Sallie Zimmer had several items to report, including:
• On Monday, 3/13, the Social Committee hosted an early-morning "Daylight Savings Breakfast," to celebrate the time change and provide coffee and breakfast items to residents on their way to work.
• The Social Committee has now hosted four guest speakers in its series of "Esplanade Speaker Forums." These are not decision-making forums, but invited guest speakers. The next speaker, on 5/10, will be Bill Baarsma, a former mayor of Tacoma, will speak on the transformation of downtown Tacoma. The committee would very much like some suggestions for future guest speakers.
• Another upcoming event will be a mimosa table during the Daffodil Marine Parade on 4/23. Weather permitting, the table will be located outside so that residents can enjoy mimosas while watching the boat parade.
• The committee has been in contact with a local florist / decor expert to consider ideas for "warming up" the lobby. The board voted to form an ad hoc committee to review various options.
• Sallie also requested to continue meeting with the board and Building Manager Karen DeGraw, for the purpose of clarifying the scope of the committee's work, committee finances and expenditures, petty cash, reimbursements for purchases, etc.
• The next Social Committee meeting is May 8; all are welcome.

Building Manager's report:
Below are a few of the projects on which Building Manager Karen DeGraw is currently working. This is not a comprehensive list of all Karen is doing - it is merely a glimpse of a few projects.

• Bikes need to be tagged and moved
  Karen is in the process of moving all bikes to a locked storage room in the NW corner of the lower garage. If you have a bike in the rack it needs to be tagged by April 15, so that Karen can tell if the bike has an owner, or if it has been abandoned. Tags are available in her office. A day and time will be chosen when bike owners will need to come down and unlock their bikes so that the rack can be moved. If you own a bike and no longer want it, or if you are out of town and have a bike stored in the racks, please send Karen an email.

• Deck resurfacing
  Karen reported that she now has five bids for the resurfacing of the elastomeric surface on all concrete decks (not the 2nd/9th floor "Trex" decks). However, the bids range tremendously, and it seems the scope of the work needs to be better clarified so that the bids can be compared "apples to apples." Karen would like all residents to examine their decks for standing water, cracks or coating lifting off. These issues will require extra work. Karen hopes the resurfacing can be completed by the end of June. The deck resurfacing will delay this year's window washing, which should not be done until after the deck resurfacing is completed.

• Replacing locks with fobs
  Karen also reported that she is closer to having bids for installing fob readers on some exterior doors and in the elevators. There would be several advantages to fobs over keys. Fobs cannot be copied as easily as keys, and there is no telling how many copies of our door keys are currently out in the world. Keys also deteriorate the locks over time - the front door lock has been inoperable on several occasions due to residents pulling the door open with their key. [For a more complete explanation of security issues in the building, please read THIS. Note that installing fob readers might be only the first stage in a longer process of creating heightened building security.]

• Heating / cooling hallways
  More has been learned about the system which brings fresh air into the hallways. Apparently the best option for better regulating hallway temperatures is to split the system into multiple independent zones, rather than having the entire system "daisy chained" together. This option is being explored.

• Tall Ships are coming
  On June 15-18 the Foss Waterway will host the Festival of Sail. Thousands of visitors are expected every day of the festival; expect parking issues and lane closures on Dock Street. Board member Pete Cribbin suggested these would not be good days to have contractors working in the building.

Old business: None

New business:

• Board requests 48 hours notice on voting
  The board requested that if committee chairs are going to request board approval on any motions during a meeting, then the chair should notify the board, in writing, 48 hours prior to the board meeting. This will give the board time to review the motion and/or to meet in executive session before voting on the motion.

Resident questions and comments: None


Social time:

• After adjournment, each board member spoke briefly to introduce themselves and talk about serving on the board. Wine provided by the Social Committee.